Scorpion and rice

[Guest guest]

> Hare Krishna. Pamho.

>

> I am curious how to understand the following:

> "The scorpion lays its eggs in piles of rice, and sometimes it is said

> that the scorpion is born out of rice." (Bg. 14.3 purport)

>

> The example is clear. However, as far as I know scorpions do not lay eggs

> but give birth to live offspring. Where then do the above statement come

> from? Do scorpions give birth in piles of rice in which their offspring

> grow and become strong?

 

Here is what Encyclopedia Britannica says:

 

Many arachnids simply deposit their eggs in the soil or in a protected site,

and no further care is given to them; others, particularly tropical species,

guard the eggs by remaining with them during the period of development. Some

spiders place their eggs in cocoons, and the eggs of some tailless whip

scorpions, schizomids, whip scorpions, and false scorpions are attached

beneath the abdomen.

 

Among scorpions the fertilized eggs develop inside the mother, and the young

are born alive. In scorpions whose eggs contain much yolk, the eggs develop

within the oviduct; in those with little yolk, the eggs remain in place and

each embryo lies in a diverticulum (hollow outpouching) with a tubular

extension through which nutrient fluids pass from the wall of the maternal

intestine. When the young are sufficiently developed, they are expelled and

carried about on the mother's back until after the first molt. False

scorpions carry their eggs in a brood sac attached to the genitalia. The

embryos develop and grow within this brood sac and are nourished by the

female.

------

 

It is difficult to know which exact species could or could not be called

"vcika". The dictionary, besides the primary meaning "scorpion", also

mentiones a particular caterpillar, a beetle found in cow-dung and a

centipede. It could also be that some other type of spider, similar to a

scorpion, passed under the same name. I don't know the origin of the saying.

It is probably some sort of Indian folk wisdom.

 

ys end